UN, Rotary International renew cooperation on population and development issues

The United Nations lead population agency and Rotary International vowed to continue their joint efforts to address development needs and confront challenges of global population growth.

By the terms of the Memorandumof Cooperation formalized last year, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and some of the 30,000 Rotary clubs around the world will consult to identify local population and development needs and seek ways to collaborate to address them. UNFPA will encourage its offices to connect with Rotary clubs and districts at the local level. Similarly, Rotary will encourage its club and districts to support population development programmes.

“We are most pleased to continue our working partnership with Rotary International to tackle the critical population issues facing our human family,” said UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. “We cannot confront the massive challenges of poverty, hunger, disease and environmental destruction unless we address issues of population and reproductive health.”

Rotary International President Bhichai Rattakul echoed Ms. Obaid's remarks, saying, "A core cause of poverty in many parts of the world is the imbalance between population growth and resources such as employment, health care and education."

Examples of the cooperation between Rotary and UNFPA in the past year include launching HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns in highly affected areas in India and undertaking efforts to increase understanding of reproductive health issues in regions of Mexico.